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Overview

Sidney Poitier reprises his role as Virgil Tibbs in this crime drama, a story unrelated to that of the earlier film In the Heat of the Night. Once again, he is a veteran homicide detective and is currently investigating the murder of a prostitute. The primary suspect is San Francisco political activist Reverend Logan Sharpe (Martin Landau), the last person seen with the victim. Tibbs and Sharpe are friends, and Tibbs would like to believe the priest is not guilty. Sharpe admits to Tibbs he has slept with the late hooker, and the detective intensifies his focus on his friend, and in one climactic scene, Virgil interrupts a city-council meeting where the priest is campaigning for political reform. On the home front, after dealing with dope peddlers, pimps, murderers and other crooks all day, Virgil returns home to his wife Valeri (Barbara McNair) and his two children, only to be firmly chided for being late for dinner and spending too much time on the job.

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Editorial Reviews

A gripping, socially conscious murder mystery reflecting the turbulent times during which it was made, They Call Me Mister Tibbs! finds Sidney Poitier revisiting his tough-cop character from the Oscar-winning In the Heat of the Night. This 1970 sequel relocates Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs to San Francisco, where an activist clergyman (played by Martin Landau) campaigning for local government reform is implicated in the murder of a prostitute. Tibbs, a close friend of the preacher, investigates the case in his usual no-nonsense manner but runs into unexpected opposition from corrupt officials. As in this film's illustrious predecessor, Virgil confronts deeply ingrained, systemic racism -- but unlike Heat of the Night, it unfolds in a contemporary urban setting where tensions gain complexity and power brokers play for high stakes. Veteran director Gordon Douglas (In Like Flint) deftly interprets a complicated script that switches back and forth between the murder investigation and Virgil's domestic travails. The MGM DVD benefits from a newly mastered print and is accompanied by the film's original trailer.

Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse

It's a long way down from In the Heat of the Night to They Call Me MISTER Tibbs, but this sequel to the Oscar-winner is not without merit: it just doesn't compare in any way with its predecessor. Taken on its own terms, it's a slightly below average crime drama that probably suffers most from the period in which it was filmed. In 1970, an actor like Sidney Poitier was still being called upon to try to be all things to all people -- he was "THE black actor," and as a result, every move made by any character he played was watched to see what kind of significance it had for the integration of the races. That's not the kind of atmosphere that encourages good writing of idiosyncratic, complex characters. In Tibbs, Poitier's performance is great; his acting skills are in beautiful form. They're just not given the chance to stretch the way he wants and needs them to. Even with this problem aside, Tibbs has problems -- at heart, it's simply a common, ordinary, run-of-the-mill detective film. There are some nice moments here and there that do give it flavor, but too much of what's on the screen is stuff we've seen before.